Dhoni146;s the big difference from last WC: Sourav

Pointing out the importance of in-form Dhoni as a batsman for the World Cup, Ganguly maintained that the remainder of the side is more or less the same.

8220;The core team is still the same, there isn8217;t much of a difference in the composition of the core players between the 2003 and the 2007 sides,8221; the 34-year-old batsman told mediapersons this afternoon.

8220;In fact, there are about 10 players from this Indian team who were part of the World Cup campaign four years ago. So, as far as overall team composition is concerned, I don8217;t think there has been much of a change in these four years, except for Dhoni8217;s emergence, of course,8221; added Ganguly.

The former Indian captain, who is the team8217;s only certain opener for the mega event, will leave for Mumbai on Wednesday, where Rahul Dravid 038; Co will assemble and then set off for the West Indies.

With pundits seeing this edition of the World Cup as an open battle unlike the last time round, Ganguly too believes each one of the top big teams is in with a chance and there8217;s no overwhelming favourite for the title hunt. 8220;It8217;s an open World Cup, this one. It8217;s anybody8217;s game. There are quite a few good teams, and all are in with a chance,8221; Ganguly said when asked to pinpoint if he sees any team as the favourite.

Ganguly had led India to the final of the World Cup in South Africa four years back.

On a day when the experienced player went hopping from one function to another, Ganguly8217;s last stop today was the Eden Gardens, where he was presented with a good-luck gift 8212; a crystal ball and trophy 8212; on behalf of the Cricket Association of Bengal CAB administration. The conspicuous absentee at the ceremony was CAB president and Kolkata Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee, whose mother expired a couple of days back.

In what clearly appeared to be a none-too-impressively conducted function at the Eden8217;s famous pavilion lawn, a clutch of sportspersons from different disciplines were present on the occasion 8212; like Chuni Goswami and Soma Biswas. But they were visibly overlooked, thanks partly to the clumsy presentation show and arrangements. Ganguly recollected his first visit to Eden as a wide-eyed six-year-old, sitting through his debut international match here in which Tony Greig played.

Asked by a scribe about his opinion on the rule that says players cannot take their wives along in the World Cup till it8217;s the knock-out stage, an uncharacteristic tongue-in-cheek Ganguly responded: 8220;Well, you can say, it8217;s sometimes good for husbands to get a break.8221;